


I Just Want

by Neverlong



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: (me too), Bad History, Friendship, Gen, Meteor City mentioned, Other, Pickpockets, all you want is a friend, dangerous business, dangerous siblings, spoiler - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-11-06 05:59:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11030082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neverlong/pseuds/Neverlong
Summary: All the things you had would never amount to this.Even so, you wanted more.





	I Just Want

"I just want to be with my friends," you had told him, wishing you could be like the other kids from Meteor City. The ones who got to do whatever they wanted. The ones with no responsibilities or families.

It was a horrible thought. You thought it furtively, fervently, fiercely, frequently. Secret thoughts like those—they're one of the few things that couldn't be uprooted, even by older brothers.

If you had been born anywhere else, you could have had normal friends that you walked to school with, parents—what an odd idea, having adults take care of you until you yourself are an adult—who somehow loved and watched over you. All you had was a brother.

"You don't have any friends," he said, nothing hurtful. Just excessively truthful. "All you've got is me."

 

But this was a new city. And you wore a new face underneath what had once been grimy cheeks and a bloody nose and chapped lips and itchy eyes. You had feather-soft hair that shimmered whenever you stood under lights. Your stomach was filled with disgustingly slippery foods that you had to slurp up to eat.

You don't see your brother often anymore. He's a light at the end of a tunnel, your escape route with a weekly envelope of cash that he slips under your new apartment door. Most of the time, you can't wait to spend all the money. It goes to dumb things that you see and want. You watch the money drip down the drain with each purchase, but your brother comes through for you again at the end of each week.

You're not happy, but you're somewhere close to that. You're not starving or impoverished, but you can't keep your fingers from their nasty habit of slipping into pockets to search for cash. You haven't been caught yet, and it makes you wonder. Do these people not have to worry about being stolen from?

Regardless, you never knew how complacent your life could be. While you were content having money flung at you, there was no struggle to keep you going. When all you'd ever known was how to fight to survive, suddenly having all your needs met left you asking yourself, What's next?

It was during times like these that you took to the streets to see if you could puzzle out your situation.

Maybe you were just lonely. Friends had been a luxury you weren't afforded in your hometown; mostly because your brother chased off any prospects.

What was a friend? Someone you spent a lot of time with, you knew, but you lived in a big city now and had no clue where to start looking for a friend. Everyone was so busy.

"Arm wrestling! If you can beat this boy, you earn a fabulous reward!" You turned to the sound at the other side of the street. A crowd of men gathered at what you assumed to be the little boy.

He wasn't so little when you crossed the road to spot the matches. You stuck to the edges of the crowd, merely watching as challenger after challenger was beaten back and thoroughly fleeced of their money.

You wanted to figure out how it worked, exactly. It was clearly rigged. Your lips quirked at the familiar idea—lead them on with a nice reward, and the money you earn will eventually more than make up for the initial investment.

And what an investment it was. Staring at that diamond ring made your hand feel all too empty. You had your money out in one swift movement before reloading it into your least convenient pocket for safekeeping. Maybe these people weren't worried about becoming easy marks, but you wouldn't get caught up in their naivety.

"Ah, the little lady wants to give it a try!" You handed your money off to the loud announcer. He was all too happy to take it from you with a stretched smile and stuff it into a briefcase at his side.

Your heart was a stampede, running over your mind as you realized, I'm about to get robbed of my money and I'm looking forward to it. A day of firsts.

"Please go easy on me," you murmured to the boy, watching his face light up with a curt smile.

"But that's against the rules."

"Ah, I guess you're right." You returned his smile, "Then, can I have your name?"

"Gon." And he extended his hand. It was sweaty. You couldn't tell if he was the sweaty one, or if it was someone else who had strained against his grip enough to slather their sweat on his hand and you were just lucky enough to be on the receiving end of it.

Either way, you introduced yourself subtly underneath the announcement of the match.

Immediately, you could tell why he hadn't lost. There was something about his grip. Something remarkably familiar, yet too far away to name. And his smile was so kind, even when directed at you. One word stuck out like a crack in the wall that you simply couldn't overlook: friend.

Your hand sunk against the table without hesitation, and your knuckles felt bruised from the impact.

Although the announcer said something about how you'd lost the challenge, you couldn't help but think about how much you won. The kid, Gon, stared at you wildly as you left, reaching into his pocket where he had felt your hand slip.

It was a second payment and a slip of paper with phone number and a simple phrase, Let's be friends, with something cute that resembled a winking smiley face.

He smiled in your direction, and you felt it. Something happy, something excited. A friend was something you needed. He seemed like a good choice—you could tell he was naive and honest and probably easy to manipulate but strong enough to keep you intrigued. _And_ , you reminded yourself, _there's no one to scare my friends off anymore._

 

 

 

"Oh no, sweetie," said a figure shrouded in darkness and the kind of pungent odor that only emanates from a sweaty teenaged boy. "What're you doing?"

"You know," the man standing with him answered, "you could always talk. Instead of stalking her."

He was shot a look and held his hands up defensively. "Hey man, I'm just trying to help. That's your sister though, huh? Think that's the first time I've seen her smile."

The younger boy scratched his neck where a spider crawled from under his shirt. "Yeah. Well."

"She looks happy."

He slipped his chin into his hands, swinging his feet over the side of the roof.

 _Happy_. Why did it sit so wrong in his chest?

 _Happy_? No. If he knew you, then that wasn't it. You just wanted more.

**Author's Note:**

> So I might add on depending on what kind of response I get. Or I might just decide hey, I like this without anyone else's approval. You never know. I'd comment and leave kudos just to be sure, though;)


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